Spotlight - Feature Stories

NOVEMBER 2015 | HUFFINGTON POST — I’m one of the journalists portrayed in the movie Spotlight, which was recently released. It follows our team of investigative reporters at The Boston Globe as we slowly uncover decades of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and the systemic coverups of the misdeeds by their superiors. We’ve been to screenings in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. The experience has been everything you might expect it — great and wonderful and, frankly, a little weird. READ STORY

Feb. 23, 2016 | LOS ANGELES TIMES — Since “Spotlight’s” November release, many abuse survivors and relatives have felt empowered to share their own harrowing stories — some for the first time. They’ve also been enlisted to join in the movie’s awards season campaign by Open Road Films and Participant Media (the companies that produced and financed the picture), helping to underscore its societal influence. READ STORY

December 2015 | PARADE — “I can’t fathom why the church refused to treat the abusers as criminals. If you had a house infested with roaches wouldn’t you want to get rid of the roaches? Not move them into other rooms.”READ INTERVIEW

NOVEMBER 2015 | MOVIEMAKER — “Condensing true-life stories into screenplays is hard. I’ve spent the past dozen years trying to figure out how to do it and I’ve still got lots to learn. Part of the secret to making talky, information-heavy movies cinematic is making sure the talk you do have is as clear and concise as possible. I’ll get specific on that in a second. First I have to talk about shtumi.”READ STORY

DECEMBER 2015 | THE NEW YORKER — “Since seeing the movie “Spotlight,” about the Boston Globe investigation of sexual abuse and coverups in the Catholic Church, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and the questions it raises—about how far institutions will go to protect themselves, about who we listen to and protect, about who and what we ignore, about the power of disclosure and even conversation.”READ STORY

JANUARY 2016 | THE GUARDIAN (UK) — ““The Catholic church often talks about this as pain that’s in the past,” says Spotlight’s co-screenwriter, Josh Singer. “I think the survivors would tell you they’re less interested in the church trying to make amends and more interested in the church protecting children in the future.”READ STORY

November 4, 2015 | AP — It was a scandal that shook the Roman Catholic Church to its core: Hundreds of priests molested children for decades and got away with it because church leaders covered it up. READ FULL ARTICLE

October 2015 | BOSTON GLOBE — “Ann Hagan Webb didn’t expect to get emotional while watching Spotlight for the first time. As a survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, she had already lived through the events depicted in the film. But Webb found herself feeling completely overwhelmed as she observed how The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team of investigative journalists personally reacted to uncovering the systemic problem of clergy sexual abuse.”READ STORY

October 30, 2015 | NY TIMES — “Working from a cramped, dingy office, a scrappy band of journalists exposes the Archdiocese of Boston’s decades-long cover-up of sexual abuse of children by scores of priests. Definitely an investigation worthy of a Pulitzer Prize, which the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team won for that 2002 series. But fodder for a Hollywood film?” READ FULL ARTICLE

October 28, 2015 WBUR Radio | “This is where, for this story, the victims are,” actor Mark Ruffalo said. “This is where the people that we’re playing are. This is where the Globe is. This is where it counts, you know?” LISTEN AND READ REPORT